The Paint and the Pain

Lyrics

Artists’ hands were yours from birth, Oh, the paint and the pain; From East Land Ends, to the ends of the earth, Oh, the mad and the sane: And though you made your name, Oh, the bitter fame.

Storms on your canvas reflecting our lives, Oh, the paint and the pain; Sacrifice plunders where creativity strives, Oh, the mad and the sane: And oh, the cruel cost, As I read to you from Paradise Lost.

To be the one to bear your heart, Through thick paint and thin, Not for me but for your art, Your passion all-a-flame; Burning paint and pain.

Upside down they nailed your art, Oh, the paint and the pain; Crucified your bleeding heart, Oh, the mad and the sane: Your draughtsman’s plans, which came to nought; So many dreams so dearly bought.

Three children buried in their graves, Oh, the paint and the pain; Lost beneath life’s cruel waves, Oh the mad and the sane: And through those hungry years, I tasted paint through bitter tears.

To be the one to bear your heart, Through thick paint and thin, Not for me but for your art, Your passion all-a-flame; Burning paint and pain.

Forty-five years, I shared your visions and your schemes; Forty-five years, Fighting for your dreams.

Now you’re gone, there’s nothing left, Oh, the paint and the pain; No princely gift, nor godly rest, Oh, the mad and the sane: To place you now among the greats, Then mine was a humble fate:

To have been the one to play her part, Through thick paint and thin; To have been the one to break her heart, For the mad and the sane, And the paint and the pain.

Background Text

In 1809, at the age of nineteen, John Martin married Susan Garrett of Crondall, Hampshire, at Marylebone Church. They met through their mutual association with the Mussos. Susan was several years his senior. Two of their eight children died in infancy and they also endured the terrible suicide in their home, of their young nephew Richard, whom they had adopted and raised as one of their own when his father Jonathan was confined. Susan was undoubtedly her husband’s rock, muse and inspiration, as well as the “life and soul” of his lavish parties, being totally devoted to her husband at every turn.

Notes

'Mad Martins' depicts the extraordinary lives and times of the Martin brothers, William (self-proclaimed “natural philosopher and philosophical conquerer of all nations”), Jonathan (incendiary of York Minster) and John (eminent painter, engraver, town-planner and host), who were born in the late eighteenth century in the South Tyne area of Northumberland.